look what i got!

Well with this wonderful wedding only 3 short weeks away i feel like i am hitting new levels of stress.

The to-do list is getting longer and longer and my amazing wedding planner is sending me emails what still needs to get done, still needs to be paid, and even more GORGEOUS ideas!
I just know that my wedding is going to be sooo spectacular but like i have said before i am ready for it to be over. hehe.

Yesterday, i had a solo session of pre-marital mentoring (my Fiance is out of town for work this week) and we ate at the delicious Cheesecakes Unlimited (and i have never been there before!). It was actually a really nice restaurant. (: It had little candles at the tables and everything! I was there from 6pm - 8:30pm just visiting with my marriage mentor.

I love her!! She is an amazing woman of God and i learn soo much by just visiting with her. We talked about the excitement of the wedding.. and about marriage... and about Fiance and i and how we are doing. She told me some solid advice and we prayed. it was fun! (: I am blessed to have her in my life. And i ate a delicious piece of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake!

 

Soooooo good! I, of course, couldn't finish it because my stomach can only handle so much sweetness but what i ate was heavenly! (: 

Also i got my cake topper in yesterday! hooray!!!

exciting!!!! (: 

cheesecake, toppers, and love - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

Etsy... i adore you

So (one of the biggest) challenges in this wedding planning process has been to find a flower girl dress for my adorable flower girl. Lorelei (my friend Shawna's little girl) is such a joy to my heart! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for a dress that is in price range and is what i wanted. I am VERY picky with flower girl dresses. I didn't want an all white dress (i always wanted to be the only one in all white. hehe), but i didn't want all color because my girls are in black, his guys are in black, and Future husband and i are in white... so i thought TOO much color would look funny.

I found a dress that i totally fell in love with from Alfred and Angelo. But... paying for the name.. its about $160! really?? for a dress for a 4 yr old who WILL only wear it once! This is almost as bad as the veils! (c'mon who needs to spend $85 on a 2 pieces of tulle?!)

I then went on a chase for an affordable, pretty, good color combo dress. Jcpenney. Macys. Kohls. Other sites online... but i couldn't find anything i really fell in love with!

I have looked on Etsy.com before.. but it felt soo overwhelming. There was just sooo much to look through. A co-worker and i started looking on Etsy for a dress. I came across Barbara's shop and fell in love!!! She makes custom clothing and jewelry! You can show her a picture or an idea and she can make it!!! She even puts the name of the person on the tag! This is what she made me!

I am sooo happy and impressed with her work! She made this dress in about 2 days! She kept me updated on every step! The best part is this dress was under $50!!!! (: The dress is $37.50 and i added $10 for the flowers on the skirt! 

I am sooo overjoyed! (: (: 

cute dresses, etsy, and love. -M

♥ . ♥ . ♥ 

Wedding, Planning, Marriage

Well i am less then a month out of my wedding and "Busy" is an understatement. For sure.

We have a few more vendors to pay off with the due date approaching quickly (August 6th more most). We are thinking that everyone (besides the photographer and few last minute details) will be paid off by the end of July. wow! sooo crazy! Adding up the cost of everything that we have paid for already (and everything left to be paid) just makes me wanna throw-up and cry at the same time so i like to just look at the one by one smaller amounts rather then the big picture.

The next big assignment my wonderful Fiance and i have to do is pick the song lists for the reception (like our first dance, entrance song, garter/bouquet toss song, anniversary dance song, bridal entrance song, and a play and do not play list.) wow! a lot of songs to go over! I FINALLY made a final decision on the ceremony music and i am very happy with it. I have also made a promise to myself that i will not listen to another option of ceremony music... just so that i dont change my mind... AGAIN!  I really think it will be beautiful though. (:

Also, due to the intense heat in the summer at 4 0 clock i made the decision to move the ceremony inside as well as the reception. I think that our guest (and i in a huge wedding dress) would feel a lot better being in an air conditioned room. So because we changed from outside to inside we had to make some changes in how everything will be set up.... and i am reminded again how much i ADORE my wedding planner! (: Every bride should hire a wedding planner... she calms you down and makes everything go smoothly. (:

My wedding shower is in 2 weeks and i am extremely excited for it. My sister (matron of honor) is putting it on and i think it will be a lot of fun! It is going to be a very classy and fun event. hehe. The week after i am putting my friend's wedding shower on. It makes me feel a LITTLE stressed because it is a week after mine and 2 weeks before my wedding... but i think it will be fun. It will be a little more laid back and just a great chance for everyone to celebrate the bride. (: Hers is going to be an ice cream party theme... and i think it will be very cute. i printed out custom made invites with a little bride holding a bouquet of flowers and an ice cream cone! (:

I printed one copy out and then went to the trusted FedEx store to make more copies and use a little cutter to make straight lines.

So everything turned out great! I will be mailing them out today or tomorrow. My sister mailed mine out last Saturday and i think everyone has got their invite... but no one has RSVP'd yet! 

And this seems to be a theme since yesterday was the cutoff to my RSVP and there are a handful of people who still haven't RSVP'd! I dont know if they are just not coming and don't want to tell us.... or if they are assuming that we know they are coming and don't need to. Whatever the reason... i will have the wonderful duty of calling everyone, starting tomorrow, to ask if they are coming or not coming. My caterer needs a headcount by the end of the month. 

There is a lot to do in the next 4 weeks... and honestly, i am ready for the wedding to come, the planning to stop, and the marriage to begin! ha! (: 

With a month left until THE DAY i decided to work out. I have lost quite a lot of weight since last summer (i am about 15 pounds lighter then i was last summer which is a GREAT accomplishment! But i need a little extra push with the wedding approaching. I thought it was effective to get Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

She TOTALLY kicks your booty!!! I didn't workout properly though ( i had wedding errands and stopped working out before the cool down) so my legs are KILLING me today! it is literally hard to walk! But i am pretty sure i will lose those extra few pounds and get toned for the wedding. So the pain is worth it! (: 

lots of planning, sore muscles, and love. -M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

thirty-nine.

Well i have 39 days until my wedding!

wait!!! what!!! only 39 days??? HOW am i going to get through this?

I just had an ongoing conversation with my wedding planner via e-mail on all the things we still need to do in the next 39 days.

Some of which include... pay everything off! ha! easier said then done. My new super hero name will be 'Super Budgetter'. My wonderful Fiance and i will have to plan out every single dollar to make sure that we have enough for all the wedding bills, my bills, and our apartment bills. It feels overwhelming but we are just taking it one paycheck at a time.  we can do this! (:

Other things we need to do is meet with our ceremony music guy, our dj, and photographer. We need to make a music list - including a 'do not play list' along with certain songs for certain activities. (like our first dance, the honeymoon dance, anniversary [elimination] dance, and the song that will be played when we walk back into the reception after pictures). We need to write up a "must take photo list" so that our photographer knows exactly what we will want. (:

We have to give all of our vendors our wonderfully typed out timeline that my amazing wedding planner typed up for us .. so that everyone is on the right page. We need to figure out what we wanna do for our ceremony and talk to our officiant to discuss it.

I have to go buy stuff for our super-fun kid's table that we are going to have. I have made a custom coloring book and now i just need to go make copies. Get coloring crayons, little fun games, and some balloons for decorations for the kid's table.

My worries of this week: We are STILL mailing out invites!!! We keep thinking of people and having to give them invitations... but we don't have many RSVPs. That makes me a little nervous. I am soo worried that we are going to go over our headcount. We want to stay at 130 or less.
Also i have been looking at our registry and NO ONE has bought anything yet. Isn't that strange? I guess everyone is going to wait until the last minute? Or we just won't have any gifts. lol.

My shower is in two weeks and i am very excited about that. oh no! Another thing to add onto my long list of to-dos is to give my sister (my matron of honor) my guest list for the shower.

Speaking of showers i need to start getting ready because i am throwing my friend  Shawna, a bridal shower because she is getting married 3 short weeks after me. (: VERY excited for her!!! So her shower will be a week after mine! hooray!!! (:

Lord, give me strength... and joy!



To do lists, busy days, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

Apartment for husband and wife!

Well, its official - my fiance and I got approved for an apartment! We are sooo excited! (:

This is actually the first apartment that i have picked out. hehe. All the other times my roommates have always picked them out and then i moved in. But this time i got to help pick it out! i got to take a tour of it and everything! i felt sooo adult like. hehe. Its not an apartment for roommates  - its an apartment for husband and wife!

It makes me feel like it needs to look really nice. Like all my little girl decorations need to be updated to a more sophisticated taste. lol. After all, my husband needs to like the apartment too. hehe. I am extremely excited to decorate though! And i'll try not to make it all girl. hehe. (:

Its crazy to think that in less then 2 months i will be living with a boy. okay not a BOY..... he'll be my husband - but this is a VERY new (and exciting) experience for me!

It sometimes surprises me that every day i find that i am more and more proud of my future husband. He is out of town working his little booty off in the hot sun. It takes a certain type of man to do what he is doing and my heart is filled with pride! (: I am extremely proud of that man that he is becoming.


On a side note... a light bulb at my work just burned out. And i mean BURNED out... like it was just smoking. awesome!

new apartments, light bulbs, and love - M

Conversations with a 5 yr old.

The other day at work i had a simply lovely conversation with a little girl. lol.

It all started because of my "big, huge hello kitty purse".

One day i was watching Kandee Johnson's youtube channel and she had a Whats in my Pregnant Purse Video  and i ABSOLUTELY fell in complete love with this adorable hello kitty purse! Yes, yes, i know.. i am like 5 yrs old.
Anyways.. i ended up buying this wonderous purse and i get compliments on it all the time! (ask my Fiance... hehe... all the time people always say "thats a really cute purse.")

Well.. my purse hangs on the chair at my work and so people can see it... its kinda on display. lol

So i am at work the other day and this little girl... probably about 5 yrs old comes up to me and says "i like hello kitty more then you.. even though you have a big, huge hello kitty purse". (see.. i AM like 5)

SOOOO cute! I begin a little conversation with her about all the hello kitty stuff i had when i was younger... and the stuff she has now. She was precious. 

The most amazing part was the wonder that was in this little girl's life still. It was that feeling of "i can do whatever i want to do in life!". That feeling that so many of us lose in our lifetimes because of fear, or hurt or insecurity. That little girl didn't have that. She just stood there and talked to me about all the wonderful stuff she had and all the things she wanted to do when she got older. I miss that feeling of being able to conquer the world and nothing can hold me back! 

I know that i need to get that back. Kick fear, insecurity, and past hurt out of my life and run into my destiny. (: 

Ever since talking to that little girl at work i have been looking at my life and have been really noticing how often fear, insecurity, and hurt can keep me from my life. Even in talking to different friends and hearing them share some of their fears -- i am able to see how badly it can hurt our lives. And now, more then ever, i am noticing it with my upcoming marriage. I cant let it hurt my life or my marriage. So my new goal is to purposefully work on my fears, hurts, and insecurity. Conquer it all! (: All things are possible with Christ who strengthens me. 

big purses, conquering insecurity, and love. - M

Romantic dates on a budget. (:

Since every dollar is accounted for in this wedding and getting an apartment. My amazing Fiance and i have to get a little creative for dates. (:

I expressed to him that i needed a romantic date. Just him and i being together, enjoying each other's company. My Fiance sure knows how to deliver!!!

He took me on an amazing picnic by this beautiful waterfall. We had to walk a little bit but it wasn't that far of a walk. We walked down to right by the waterfall and had lunch. It was about 10 degrees cooler by the water! We were gonna go swimming but the water was way to cold!

It was fun just talking about things and sitting by these gorgeous man-made waterfall! Like i've said before... i love the simple pleasures of life. (:

After "hiking" (it was like a .25 mile walk really) back to our car we went and changed into our "date clothes" (which pretty much was jeans and tank top lol) and went to the $1.50 movie. We, of course, stopped by the dollar store to stock up on snacks. hehe. The movie theater in town plays older movies (like movies now on DVD) for $1.50 each. (: SUCH a great deal! 

We were going to watch the new fast and the furious movie.... but apparently they were cleaning the seats so we watched Water For Elephants instead. It was pretty good. 

Once the movie was done we went to walk around at a beautiful scenic bridge. We just walked and talked about things. Its amazing what conversation can do for a relationship. 

I was getting a little hungry so we decided to go to Red Robin and share something. We ordered "clucks and fries" or something like that. lol. So we got chicken strips, shrimp, and fries... they even put it in two separate baskets. The waiter gave us 2 boxes of fries when we were leaving too! (:

Overall, it was an amazing date!!! Ya... we can't go out and see the newest movie or go to a super expensive restaurant. But we can take joy in every moment together! (: 

romance, waterfalls, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥